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Thursday, May 28, 2015

Namibian band Ozondundu Zakambekura - "Onxi Orujano" & "Ozoseua"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases showcases two videos of the Namibian band Ozondundu Zakambekura. This post also includes selected comments from these video's YouTube discussion threads, including some English translations and explanations for the song "Ozoseua".

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Ozondundu Zakambekura, to the producers of these video, these videos' publishers, and to all those who are quoted in this post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT NAMIBIA
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namibia
"Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia... is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. Although it does not border with Zimbabwe, less than 200 meters of riverbed (essentially the Zambia/Botswana border) separates them at their closest points. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek."

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE HERERO ETHNIC GROUP
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herero_people
"The Herero are an ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. The majority reside in Namibia, with the remainder found in Botswana and Angola. About 240,000 members are alive today[citation needed]. They speak the Herero language which belongs to the Bantu languages."
-snip-
The Herero language is Otjiherero http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herero_language

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INFORMATION ABOUT OVIRITJE MUSIC
My guess is that Ozondundu Zakambekura performs Oviritje music. Here's information about that music genre from http://www.myspace.com/oviritje1 *
“Contemporary Oviritje music is local Namibian music that originated with the Otjiherero speaking people but has now become international music. Oviritje started in the 1960s and was created by the great Dr. Kareke Henguva with the help of Peterson “Omzulu” Van Samb and Mr “Don’t Go” Kazohua”. The influence of the Chicolela Production Crew with the help of NBC radio, especially the Otjiherero radio station & Umulunga radio station should also not be forgotten. Prominent local bands that perform this music are Minora, Bullet, Millenium, Ovikango, Tjitjekura, and The Wild Dogs. And there are many other bands that perform Oviritje music."

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
These videos are presented in chronological order by their publishing date with the video with the oldest date given first.

Example #1: Onxi orujano.mkv

Erwin Bebeto Kaihiva, Uploaded on Jul 27, 2010
-snip-
The sub- titles in the beginning of this video were
"inxi orujano" and "Ozondundu Zakambekura"
-snip-
Selected comments:
Erwin Bebeto Kaihiva, 2011
"The language is Otjiherero and the group's name is Ozondundu za Kambekura, they are based in Namibia. Drop me your e-mail address if you need more info."

**
williaDemartin, 2011
"guyz the language is erero, from namibia, the lady sings with okivango group.. please see another productions of her on you tube...ummm
1:Onxi orujano.mkv
2:ovikango Ally.. almost 17 years in this video..
3:ovikango concert goup(erero buae) ..she was almost 16yrs
guyz this woman is the Africa queen , class of brenda fassie.. guyz watch she is a prideof namibia.. thy put other people on the video though vocals will be from her.. idendify with a mark on the shoulder."

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Example #2: Ozoseua - Namibian Music (Namtunes)

NamTunes, Uploaded on Nov 30, 2011

Namibian Music http://namtunes.com Ozoseua (Namtunes)
-snip-
The sub-titles at the beginning of this video were "Ozondundu Zaramberura" and "Ozozewa". Given the comment about this group's name that was posted with the last video, I'm assuming that the group's name was spelled wrong. I'm also assuming that "Ozozewa" is another way (or perhaps the wrong way) of spelling the word "ozoseua".

**
teheli monare, 2013
"What a song! I always listen to these Herero songs, the most amazing thing about them, the vids clearly indicate the message even if one cant get it from the words"

**
Tom Rose, 2013
"I've seen a lot of requests for translations so I'll try to give a little insight. The song is title Ozoseua, meaning orphans. I only spent a couple years in Namibia with this tribe so I'm not an expert in the language, but from what I hear, it sounds like she's talking about;
orphans in general
specific orphans she knows
how she herself is an orphan due to her father's death
praise for her friends and her village, ovitoto

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I'm an African American mother, grandmother, & retired human services administrator. For more than forty years I have shared adapted West African stories with audiences in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area.
I have four blogspots: pancocojams, zumalayah, cocojams2, and .Civil Rights Songs. Much of the content of these blogs were previously found on my cocojams and jambalayah cultural websites. I curate all of these blogs on a voluntary basis.
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